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Maker Skills Workshops
Learn in-person from the team of K-12 Maker educators at the MIT Edgerton Center, and bring the excitement of Making into your classroom!
Spend a day learning tried-and-true ways to set up your school’s Makerspace, design high-impact Maker projects, or use new tools - 3-D printers, laser/vinyl cutters, and more. Want workshop schedule updates? Join our mailing list to be notified of upcoming schedules each season. Schedule and Registration |
Master Making in the Classroom
A 4-day series of workshops, spaced over 10 weeks, with online support from facilitators and peers
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You’ve got a couple of 3D printers, some workbenches, hand tools, and a new space - what do you do with it all? Learn to design and deliver custom Maker projects that boost your students’ confidence, competence, and engagement with STEM - no matter what subject you’re teaching!
Join a supportive community of practice over the course of a semester, and learn how to
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"For me, it was valuable to have like-minded people (and, can I say, people who are smarter than me in certain areas!) to be around...It left me inspired, energized and a little smarter."
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Maker Tool Skills and Project Design Workshops
Full-day workshops for beginners, with free take-home and online materials
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Design and Operate a Makerspace, with Shop Tool Training
Explore resources for the design, layout, and safe operation of a Makerspace; receive instruction and practice with tools and materials (including a variety of hand tools and power tools, materials, and fasteners); review project samples and create your own. "Learned what entry level tools would be appropriate for a middle school makerspace. On the way home I stopped to look at purchasing some new tools!" Schedule and Registration |
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3-D Modeling and Printing
Learn and practice 3D printing, from solid modeling with Tinkercad, to prepping (slicing) models for print, to changing filament and removing parts. Learn strategies for the effective use of a 3-D printer with a classroom of students. Practice with one of our sample projects and leave with an original print of your own. "Diane de-mystified 3D printers for me...it was great being able to ask all our uninformed questions, and have them translated (from vague language) and taken seriously." Schedule and Registration |
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Laser Cutter, Vinyl Cutter and 2-D Modeling
Learn and practice design for laser etching and cutting on Epilog and/or Dremel lasers. Try out a simpler technology: vinyl/craft cutters. Explore 2-D vector platforms and modeling techniques that allow you to use a variety of image sources. Get familiar with tool components, functionality, materials, and discuss the effective use of laser and vinyl cutters. Make a couple of project samples to take home. "The sample box project using Gravit was great and sparked a few potential ideas for the classroom. We also plan on purchasing at least one vinyl cutter after seeing it in use." Schedule and Registration |
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NEW!! Making with Music 1, 2
Explore music through simple, engaging hands-on project builds, and find new opportunities to connect it to your classroom. These workshops are based on activities we have led with students in our space and in a program we are developing in Chile. No problems getting these kids to do the math, engineering, or building! Take both classes or just one:
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Electronics
Learn and practice principles of electricity by building series and parallel circuits, with a variety of switches, LEDs, buzzers, and motors. Use soldering irons and multi-meters correctly. Figure out what components and wiring materials and tools are most appropriate for your students . Build a take-home project and make a component display board for your classroom. "...really helped me make connections in my head and fill in the holes that were keeping me from understanding more than the most basic electronics.” Schedule and Registration |
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Physical Computing with Micro:bit
Meet the Micro:bit - a small computer board equipped with sensors, LEDs, pushbuttons, and outputs that can control electronic devices. The Micro:bit can be programmed with block or text based languages and is appropriate for students 4th grade and older. Learn and practice coding basics and get familiar with a variety of input and output devices while working through our tutorial projects. Take a home an extensive kit of starter materials. See our project samples used in the workshop. Schedule and Registration |
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Physical Computing with Arduino
Get introduced to the Arduino micro-contoller, a well-supported and versatile physical computing platform. Use our tutorials to learn and practice coding basics and troubleshooting strategies. Learn breadboard wiring, and explore the functionality of electronics devices including photocells, pushbuttons, relays, servo motors, and distance sensors. Learn in a supportive environment adnd take home an extensive kit of starter materials. Recommended for teachers of grades 9 and up. "A lot of things finally clicked, I'm feeling much more comfortable with the Arduino now..." Schedule and Registration |
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Maker Project Design
After you and your students learn how to use the tools and tech, what happens next? This one-day experience gives you the opportunity to
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"...feedback from Diane was really helpful. Her suggestions to me pushed my thinking and forced me to be uncomfortable in my process of thinking about project design. This was super valuable!"
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Answers to workshop FAQs
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Where is the current Schedule and Registration page?
http://edgerton.mit.edu/k-12/MakerSkillsWorkshops How long are workshops? Unless otherwise specificed, all workshops run for one full day, 8:30am-2:30pm. Cost: For each one-day workshop, we charge $275/person. What's the class size? Attendance is limited to 18 participants/session I just missed your last workshop - when is the next one? We offer our workshops several times throughout the school year, as well as during the summer. View our most recent calendar on the main Edgerton Center site, or ask to join our mailing list for alerts for upcoming dates. Can I sign up for just one? Yes! For one-day workshops, take only the courses you want - and take as many as you want. Where are the workshops? We run workshops at the Edgerton Center Student Project Lab on the 4th floor of building 4, room 4-409. Get directions and parking info from our Contact page. I'm just starting out - can I still come? Current offerings are designed with beginners in mind (though for Project Design, we very strongly recommend that participants have some prior experience with at least one Maker tool). Past participants have had resources ranging from portable carts to library Makerspaces to full-blown shops - if you don't have a Makerspace yet, we are here to help! Are my students old enough for Making? The workshops we offer were originally designed for teachers of students from grades 4 – 12, but students can start making in any grade. Many of our past participants teach grades K-5. Is lunch included? No, but we do offer light snacks throughout the day. There are a few good places to buy a meal within a 5 minute walk, and we have a kitchenette with fridge, toaster oven, and microwave for people who prefer to bring lunch. |
Are there scholarships?
Our workshop fees help to support online and other resources that we provide for free, so we are unable to offer scholarships at this time. Some participants have been able to fund workshop fees from their school district, PTA, school educational foundation for teacher PD, or local university programs. Will you come to our school / district? Maybe! Contact Diane directly for more details. What teachers like about K-12 Maker workshops: Our staff members are experienced educators, passionate about the opportunities that maker technologies brings to the classroom. We emphasize hands-on practice and teach each technology through a simple maker project. Participants will leave with confidence, skills, resources, and new ideas for incorporating Maker tools into the classroom. Here's what past participants say: "Hands on - met us where we were at. The staff to participant ratio was awesome. Often in these types of settings, you wait a lot for help. This was really well planned out." “Walking through a project together, rather than just talking about a project.” "The willingness of the presenters to go above and beyond to ensure that I got the most out of the program was refreshing. They are very genuine and passionate." |
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